Category Archives: Death

Frederick W. Pearce 1866-1928

Chapel Next the Green (the history of Twickenham Congregational Church) index page

From the Thames Valley Times – Wednesday 17 October 1928, page 3

DEATH OF BOROUGH SURVEYOR

A Conscientious Official Whose Life was Given to the Public Service

TOMORROW’S FUNERAL ARRANGEMENTS.

Resolutions of Sympathy : Morning Service at Congregational Church Abandoned

By the sudden death on Sunday morning, at his residence in Spencer Road, Strawberry Hill, of Mr. Frederick W. Pearce, the borough surveyor and engineer, Twickenham has lost a valued public official. For thirty years he had given of his best to Twickenham in conscientious and disinterested service and with a generous heart and hand.

The sympathy of the whole town goes out to the widow and family in the heavy loss they have sustained. Mr. Pearce’s life was given to the faithful discharge of his duties.

It is our painful duty to record today the sudden passing, at half-past ten on Sunday morning, of Mr. Frederick W. Pearce, F.S.I. who for thirty years had held the responsible position of surveyor and engineer at Twickenham, first to the Urban District Council, and latterly to the Town Council. He was 62 years of age last April.

A native of Somersetshire, Mr. Pearce came to London as a young man full of that boundless energy and thoroughness which characterised him all through his life. Entering the service of the Wimbledon District Council, he occupied the position of assistant surveyor, and on his leaving was made the recipient of a testimonial placing on record his valued services. He came to Twickenham in October, 1898, to succeed Mr. G. B.Raffin* who had obtained an appointment abroad [South Africa], and on Wednesday next would have celebrated the thirtieth anniversary of his work in the district.

Twickenham was at that time little more than a village, with a population of 1,600, but with the coming of the trains, the cutting through of York Street, which had just been completed and the building developments taking place on all sides, Twickenham was fast passing from a village to a town. With that development came the laying out of new roads, seventy of which were made up under his personal supervision in the succeeding ten years, the District Council of those days having wisely decided to undertake its work on a systematic basis. Richmond Road, then a narrow thoroughfare, was widened as we know it to-day. Further road widenings were made with the extension of the trams towards Hampton Court, Mr. Pearce always taking the long view, which succeeding years have proved the correct one, of wide thoroughfares for the traffic he foresaw.

Then came the acquisition of Radnor House and the raising of its grounds several feet so as to prevent the occasional floodings that would have made riverside gardens an impassability. The Teddington Lock was in course of construction, and Mr. Pearce seized the opportunity by arranging with the Thames Conservancy and the contractors to have the excavated material barged down stream and deposited on the gardens, saving the town many hundreds of pounds in so doing.

As the town grew the need of enlarging and reorganising the fire brigade was taken in hand under Mr. Pearce’s personal direction. The old horsed engines were replaced by motors, the fire station enlarged, and latterly, the chief officer of the brigade installed with living accommodation on the spot.

Another important project of those days which threw a heavy responsibility on his shoulders was the construction of the sewage works and refuse destructor, the work of which was so heavy that, at his suggestion, a consultancy was called in, Mr. Fairley, of Richmond, being engaged by the Council.

With the increasing population came the need of new schools and in the construction of these some of Mr. Pearce’s best work was done, for he was a keen educationist and knew exactly what were the requirements of an elementary school. The Orleans Schools, which were erected in 1910, were followed a year later by the Nelson Schools, which catered for the children in East Twickenham and Whitton areas. One of his last tasks was the building of another school at Whitton to meet the demands of that growing area.

War Time Activities

Then, with the need of an isolation hospital becoming apparent, one was erected at Whitton in 1906 from his plans and under his direction, in such a manner that when extension became necessary last year it was an easy and comparatively inexpensive matter, for he had had an eye to the future in the original building.

Then, with the coming of the war, during which the constructional work of the Council was suspended, he threw himself into the activities the Council undertook for the successful prosecution of the war, and how well he did it was nobly expressed in a few words at the meeting of the Congregational Mothers’ Union on Monday afternoon. He became the fuel officer and the transport officer of the Council, but there was much that he did during this trying period that extended far beyond the limits of those offices.

To the improvement of the riverside path between Marble Hill and Richmond Bridge he devoted much personal attention, being careful to preserve the rural amenities of the walk, particularly in the neighbourhood of Marble Hill, when raising the path and filling in the ditch. Trees there were which had to go but not one was taken down in the clearing which impaired the view from the riverside or from Richmond Hill.

The purchase of York House and the coming of incorporation had placed increasing burdens and responsibilities upon his shoulders. The alterations necessary to York House were much larger than was anticipated when taking over the building, and this work, coupled with the transfer of the offices from the old Town Hall, came at a time when the surveyor and his department were working at their hardest. The Strawberry Vale and St. Margaret’s road improvements were just completed. The demand for Council houses and flats was growing more incessant, the widening of King Street, the pulling down of the old Town Hall, the development of the Richmond House Estate, all had to be dealt with.

The purchase of Orleans Riverside Land, the development of the Cambridge-gardens and of the Cross Deep Estate, and the widening of St. Margaret’s road, Strawberry Vale, and Cross Deep had thrown heavy burdens on his shoulders, coming, as they did, on the top of his other routine work. The Council, realising it, offered him assistance, but he never complained, and worked on cheerfully to the last.

The Church He Loved

Full of boundless energy, even when his health was by no means good, Mr. Pearce, amidst all his manifold public duties, found time for many outside interests. To the Congregational Church on the Green, of which he was deacon for eighteen years, he was a devoted member and supporter, the children, especially, having in him a supporter and friend. He was its church secretary, and it is not too much to say that its existence to-day as a church is in no small measure due to his life and influence. Whilst fully alive to the social side of the church, he never lost sight of the place the church must fill in the spiritual life of its people, and it is a tragic coincidence that a meeting to consider the deepening of the spiritual life of the church was to have been held this week, mainly as a result of the suggestions he had made.

He was a Freemason, being a member both of the Richmond Lodge and Richmond Chapter, and of the Twickenham Rotary Club, whose motto, “Service above self” inspired his everyday life.

Another of his outside activities was the Lower Thames Valley Association of Surveyors, of which he was secretary. He was also a member of the Institute of Municipal and County Engineers and a vice-president of the Twickenham Rifle Club and the Twickenham Philanthropic Society. His many activities and official duties were placing burdens upon the shoulders of the surveyor, which his health, never robust in the past few years would not bear, and of late it had begun to manifest itself and twice on Saturday there were indications whilst he was at work that he was not well. But he worked on, returning to York House in the evening after the office had been closed to attend to some work he desired to see through.

On returning home he complained of feeling unwell and his medical adviser, Dr. Rayner, was called. In the morning he seemed better, but he was persuaded to remain in bed, and almost the last thing he did was to arrange for a message to be sent to the Congregational Church so that the duties to which he usually attended could be discharged to others. Then almost without warning, he passed away in the presence of the members of his family and Dr. G. H. Dupont, the borough medical officer who chanced to be passing the house at the time.

Tomorrow’s Funeral

The funeral will take place to-morrow (Thursday) afternoon. A service will be held at the Congregational Church at 3 and will be attended by the Mayor and Corporation, wearing their robes of office, and the staff at York House and the employees. The service will be conducted by the pastor ( the Rev. J. T. Rhys), who will be assisted by the Rev. Harold Bickley, B.D., of Northampton, a former pastor of the church, who on the occasion of his visit to Twickenham a few weeks ago was the guest of Mr. and Mrs. Pearce. The vicar (the Rev. W. P. Cole-Sheane), and the Mayor’s chaplain (the Rev. James H. Watson), will also assist in the service.

The municipal offices will be closed at 2.15 and the workmen in the employ of the Council will leave work at one o’clock.

EXPRESSIONS OF SYMPATHY

Public Pulpit References

Many have been the expressions of sympathy which Mrs. Pearce and family have received, and at most of the churches on Sunday evening there were references to the sad event.

The flag at the municipal offices was flown at half-mast, and was on Sunday the first indication to many of the missing member of the Corporation.

The Parish Church

The sad news was conveyed to the clergy at the Parish Church on Sunday morning by Alderman F.C. Clark.

At the evening service prayers were offered on behalf of the mourners and the hymn “The radiant morn has passed away” was included in the service.
In the course of his sermon, Prebendary H. J. R. Osbourne dealt with the part that religion played in our daily life, and emphasised the close link between this life and the next. They had had that day, he said, a tragic example of that fact in the sudden passing of the borough surveyor, a most valued public official, who had done a great deal for the town; in fact, he worked too hard. It was a beautiful thought at such times to remember that he had been called to higher service.

Twickenham Brotherhood

Mr F. W. Pearce was to have presided at the meeting of the Twickenham Brotherhood at the Congregational Church, at which the address was given by Mr Harry Gosling M.P., the Minister of Transport in the Labour Government, who resides at Strawberry Hill. The chair was taken by Mr J B Potterill, who made a feeling reference to the death of Mr Pearce.

Mr Gosling said that Twickenham had lost a really valuable public servant. Alas, he had gone, and someone else must take his place. Life today was calling for high endeavour on the part of all of them and while they took off their hats in memory of their late brother, let each of them resolve to work a little harder in good causes than they might hitherto have done.

At the close of the gathering the congregation stood as an expression of their sympathy with Mrs Pearce and her family while the orchestra played Chopin’s “Marche Funebre.”

Congregational Church

The news reached the Congregational Church just as the pastor, the Rev. J. F. Rhys was about to ascend the pulpit for the morning service and was received with something approaching consternation; the deacons at once arranged that the service should be abandoned. The Rev. J T. Rhys who was deeply affected, made brief, but feeling, allusion to the great loss the church had sustained by the death of one of its deacons and its church secretary. He read the 23rd Psalm, offered prayer, and the service concluded.

At the evening service a resolution of sympathy with the family was moved by Mr. W Purchase, seconded by Mr W. Gould and supported by Mr E Dawe, and carried in silence, the members rising.

There were touching tributes of esteem and affection at the Mother’s Meeting of the Congregational Church on Monday afternoon at which a resolution of sympathy was moved by one of the members and supported by the Rev. Luther Caws Burden (Isleworth).

It was at first suggested that the wreath to be sent should be provided out of the funds of the meeting but the members unanimously rejected this saying they desired to be allowed to contribute personally to the wreath they would send.

One of the members expressed the thoughts of the gathering. She would never forget how quietly and kindly he had helped the mothers whilst their husbands were at the war. Another member expressed what the employees felt. “He was the chief of the workmen but a most lovable master.”

Education Committee

At the meeting of the Twickenham Education on Monday evening which held at York House, the chairman (Alderman V. G. Heptonstall) said; Before we commence the usual business it is my sad duty to say a few words of the terrible loss the town suffered yesterday by, as most of you know by now, the sudden death of our borough surveyor to this committee. It seems almost impossible to realise that only last week at the mayoral banquet he was laughing and joking with the rest of us. He had had thirty years service to the town and was a most thorough and capable man. To those who knew him a rather severe exterior covered a heart of gold. His great fault – if he had a fault – was in trying to do too much xxx xxx. He tried to do those things which perhaps he might have passed on to his subordinates. He did this because of his great love of the town. He never hurried. He was always deliberate in his opinions and work and had a restraining influence on many, whom I might call impetuous members of the committee and Council. The town had been built up in the last ten years and many of the things he did we shall like to look upon as monuments to his memory, for the improvement of the borough coincided with his period of office. I have found his help of immeasurable value when attending on our behalf, conference with Government officials. His eloquent and masterful way of presenting our case has been of the greatest assistance to us and the town. He loved Twickenham as few men do, and I feel sure that his death was hastened by the vast amount of work he did. We have suffered a heavy blow but we have yet to realise how exceedingly heavy that blow is. I move that a letter be sent to Mrs Pearce and family conveying the sympathy of Twickenham education authority.

The Town Clerk said: On behalf of the staff of the Corporation, and as town clerk and the education secretary, I should like to take this opportunity of associating myself with what your chairman has just said. Mr Pearce would at the end of next week have completed thirty years service with the District Council and the Corporation. During the whole of that time I have been associated with him in the conduct of the work of the town. By the courtesy of the Mayor, I understand that I shall have the opportunity of amplifying my remarks at the next meeting of the Corporation, but in the meantime I should like to state that by the death of Mr Pearce the whole staff has lost a valued colleague, one whose assistance and advice were always readily and willingly given to any member who required it and xxx whose loss will be deplored in the municipal offices for many years to come.

The resolution was carried in silence, the members rising and standing with bowed heads in memory of a faithful colleague in the public service.

Other Public References

Feeling references to the death was made at the luncheon of the Twickenham Rotary Club on Monday by the president (Councillor C.H. Farthing) and a resolution of sympathy with the relatives was passed.

At the evening service at the Twickenham Green Baptist Memorial Church the pastor, the Rev. H. H. Gardiner expressed the sympathy of his congregation with the family and said how his death would be a great loss, not merely to the Congregational Church of which he was an active member, but to the other churches of the borough.

At the luncheon of the Teddington club yesterday, at which the Rev. Dr. Tatchell gave an address, feeling references to the death of Mr Pearce were made by the chairman (Mr. Carman).

* Mr Pearce’s relationship with the Council was apparently a much happier one than Mr Raffin had enjoyed. At the Council meeting where Mr Raffin’s resignation was reported Councillor Morrow ‘proposed that the resignation be accepted with pleasure’. ‘Where does the pleasure come in?’, asked the chairman. ‘Because it will be a great satisfaction to the residents to know that they are getting rid of him (shouts of ‘oh!’) and in future business will go on more satisfactorily than in the past’, came the reply. Councillor Beard said that he ‘believed Mr Raffin to be as honest and straightforward a man as ever came to Twickenham’. Mr Webb said that when he got notice of the resignation he thought it a happy release for the Council, after all they had gone through. Mr Goatly urged that the motion be not put as the resignation was a matter of fact and could not be refused.

Fred Pearce was appointed at a salary of £260, rising by £20 annual increments to £400. The RTT recorded the votes cast for each candidate: Pearce: 13; Webb: 6; Scott: 2; Towlson: 1; Morley: 1 and Maxwell: 0. One has to feel some sympathy for Mr Maxwell’s public rejection, but no doubt Mr Pearce was gratified by the clear majority he received. He was later described as Twickenham Council’s greatest public asset. According to a contemporary sketchwriter, “Yes I did say so, and meant what I said. I am sorry I cannot make myself plainer, but the facts are as I have stated and I have nothing to withdraw or add” would be his standard reply to anyone who questioned what he said.

Thanks to Dr Dick Cashmore for bringing this account to my attention and to Annie Morris for transcribing it

Remembering World War 1

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November 11th 2024 – 106 years from the signing of the Armistice

Australia was more than a little involved in World War 1. Over 421,809 Australians served in the military with 331,781 serving overseas. 60,000 Australians lost their lives and 137,000 were wounded. These were all people who chose to serve King and Country: referendums on conscription were held in 1916 and 1917; both failed.

Across Australia, as in the UK, you’ll find war memorials everywhere, most usually in the form of stone pillars or honour boards listing the names of the fallen or those who served. ANZAC Day – 25th April, the date of the first Gallipoli landing – is an important day on our Australian calendar.

On this post I’ve pulled out a few photos of mine that show some unusual war memorials.

The first two photos were taken at Lakes Entrance Avenue of Honour in Gippsland (SE Victoria) when I visited in December 2021. In 1924 twenty-six Monterey Cypress pines were planted along the Esplanade to honour local soldiers who were killed In action in WW1. By the 1990s many of these trees were dying. Six stumps were preserved, with local chainsaw artist John Brady commissioned to carve memorial images in 1998.

Twenty-two years old, English-born John Simpson Kirkpatrick was an unlikely figure to become a national hero. He enlisted in the AIF, expecting this would give him the chance to get back to England; instead, he found himself at ANZAC Cove on 25 April 1915, and was killed less than four weeks later.

Famously, Simpson used a small donkey to carry men down from the front line, often exposing himself to fire. The bravery of this “man with the donkey” soon became the most prominent symbol of Australian courage and tenacity on Gallipoli.

The second, third and fourth pictures commemorate WW1 nurses. The second is another of the Lakes Entrance carvings.

The third, taken December 2021, of one of the Devenish silos, shows a modern day combat medic and a nurse from WW1.

The fourth is of the Lemnos memorial, Albert Park, Melbourne. It was unveiled on the 8th August 2015 to coincide with the 100th anniversary of the Australian nurses’ arrival on Lemnos, a Greek island, on the 8th August 1915 and was the first commemorative memorial dedicated to honouring the role of Lemnos in the Gallipoli Campaign to be erected outside of Lemnos in Greece. The memorial is located near Port Melbourne from where Australia’s diggers and nurses departed during the First World War.

Almost every one of the 50,000 Australian diggers who served at Gallipoli received medical care or rest on Lemnos. Many of those who arrived ill and wounded recovered with the care of Australia’s nurses. Amongst the over 1,300 Allied service personnel buried in Lemnos’ war cemeteries are over 200 Australian and New Zealand war dead.

The Lemnos Gallipoli Commemorative Committee, who got this memorial erected, hold an annual commemorative service at the memorial to commemorate and raise awareness of the role of Lemnos in Australia’s Anzac story,

My last picture, taken last month, is of a memorial in Victory Park, Ascot Vale, Melbourne. The plaque reads:

This statue was commissioned by Women Caring for Veterans of War Inc.
In Honour of the Enduring Sacrifice made by Women who cared for Veterans of World War 1
Unveiled on 29th August 2015

We will remember them

WW1 Simpson and donkey carving, Lakes Entrance
WW1 Simpson and donkey carving, Lakes Entrance
WW1 army nurse carving, Lakes Entrance
WW1 army nurse carving, Lakes Entrance
Devenish silo art
Devenish silo art
Lemnos memorial, Albert Park
Women's WW1 memorial, Victory Park, Ascot Vale
Women’s WW1 memorial, Victory Park, Ascot Vale

Box Hill Cemetery visit

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Instead of the usual talk, our October 2022 Box Hill Historical Society meeting took the form of a tour of Box Hill Cemetery (map). After the tour I did a bit of exploring on my own.

Box Hill cemetery first burial

Box Hill cemetery first burial

This story starts in 1872 when twelve acres of reserve to the east of Box Hill was set aside for use as a cemetery. The first burial, of three week old Jessie Lavinia Smith, took place on 30 August 1873.

In 1886 land between the cemetery and the recently extended railway line from Box Hill to Lilydale was annexed as an extension to the cemetery. Then in 1935 a further twelve acres was purchased by the Box Hill Council, bringing the cemetery to its present size of ~12.5 hectares (30.8 acres).

Box Hill cemetery columbarium (1929)

Columbarium (1929)

Box Hill cemetery pavilion (1923)

Pavilion (1923)

Notable structures within the cemetery are the pavilion, built in 1923 to mark the cemetery’s 50th year, and the 1929 columbarium built as a repository for the cremated remains.

In total around 50,000 people are interred at Box Hill. Here are a few of them:

Three businessmen who cared about the less fortunate

Sidney Myer

Grave of Sidney Myer, d.1934

Grave of Sidney Myer, d.1934

The most notable grave is that of Sidney Myer, founder of the department store chain and one of my great heroes. He was born Simcha Baevski in present day Belarus in 1878, coming to Melbourne in 1890. He died suddenly on 5 September 1934, aged just 56.

The Argus summed him up thus: He [Sidney Myer] came to Australia unknown and almost penniless. His life has closed with his name and his deeds known far and wide and with the largest general store in the southern hemisphere as a monument to his business ability.

Business success led Myer to be one of Melbourne’s greatest benefactors and so it’s not too surprising that 100,000 people turned out for his funeral. Through the Myer Foundation his generosity continues to this day.

“I am not a politician; I do not seek publicity, nor have I any ulterior motive whatsoever, except my love for Australia and the Australian people.” – Sidney Myer

Why was he buried at Box Hill, rather than an arguably more prestigious place such as Melbourne General Cemetery, particularly since his home was in Toorak? Very possibly because Box Hill could offer such a large site. It’s also the grave site of his widow, Merlyn (1900-1982) and the ashes of his son Kenneth (1921-1992) and wife Yasuko who were killed in a light aircraft crash In Alaska.

William Angliss

Angliss family grave

Angliss family grave

A second prominent entrepreneur and philanthropist is William Angliss (1865-1957). He came to Australia in from England 1884, opened his own butchers shop in Carlton in 1886, then moved into exporting frozen meat. By the early 1930s it was claimed that his was the largest personally controlled meat enterprise in the British Empire.

After selling out to Vesteys in 1934 Angliss pursued other business interests and by 1950 was reputedly the wealthiest man in Australia. From 1912 to 1952, he was a member of the Legislative Council of Victoria, his contribution to public life being recognised by a knighthood in 1939.

Sir William died on 15 June 1957. In his will he left £1 million for the creation of two charitable funds: one in Victoria and one in Queensland, which are administered by the William Angliss Charitable Fund, and he is also commemorated by the William Angliss Institute located in the Melbourne CBD which provides training and vocational education in hospitality and tourism.

Robert Campbell Edwards

Robert Campbell Edwards was born in Ireland in 1862. His father died in a farm accident when he was eight months old. In 1877 his mother decided to follow other family members who had already emigrated to Australia and after a long and trying voyage they arrived in Melbourne in 1878. After working for a tea importer he decided to set up on his own. Over thirty years he built up a large real estate portfolio.

In 1895, perhaps remembering his family’s struggles, and being concerned about the number of homeless boys around Melbourne’s streets, Robert established the Burwood Boys’ Home for destitute boys. The home was founded on the principle that: ‘No truly destitute boy is to be refused admission or turned away.’

When the superintendent of the home objected to the policy of taking in completely desperate cases, Robert replied that this is exactly the sort of boy for which the Burwood Boys Home had been established. From 1972 the home took in girls, operating as the Burwood Children’s Home, closing in 1986 when such institutional care was no longer required. The concern for less fortunate continues under the Campbell Edwards Trust.

Now to the graves of two younger women.

Georgine Gadsden

Georgine Gadsden (1920-1943)

Georgine Gadsden (1920-1943)

Georgine Gadsden (1920-43) was the granddaughter of Jabez Gadsden, founder of the packaging company J.Gadsden Pty Ltd. Her father, Norman Gadsden, served with the Australian Flying Corps in WW1 before rejoining the family business. Her mother, Dorothy, was an operatic singer.

Aged just 23, Georgine met a tragic death on Mt Bogong, Victoria’s highest mountain (6,516 ft/1,986m). The Australian Alpine Club website tells her story,  summarised here:

On August 2 1943, a party of three skiers (Georgine Gadsden, John McRae and Edward Welch) departed Bivouac Hut on the Staircase Spur (4,900ft/1,493m) bound for Summit Hut (6,410ft/ 1,954m) where they planned to spend the night, with the Cleve Cole Memorial Hut being their ultimate destination. Between them they carried sufficient food to last about five days Snow was falling but the party did not consider conditions unduly severe.

On August 5 it was still snowing but with a moderating wind a second group set off for the Summit Hut. Five hours after leaving the Bivouac Hut, they came across the three frozen bodies of the members of the first party lying in the snow, just 80 metres from the almost completely buried Summit Hut. Edward Welch was lying face down. About two metres further up the slope was John McRae’s body. Georgine Gadsden’s body was a further two metres up the slope.

The Gadsden Memorial marks the site of the tragedy.

Once you know this sad story you understand why Georgine’s grave, now ageing, is topped with two crossed skis.

Nellie Catherine Wales, d.1948

Nellie Catherine Wales, d.1948

Nellie Catherine Wales

And now for a mystery. This striking memorial commemorates Nellie Catherine Wales who died in 1948 aged 49. The rain-washed marble waterfall hides its 70+ years well.

The mystery: my Google and Trove searches didn’t produce any information about her, not even a death or funeral notice. Is there, as with Georgine Gadsden’s grave, a story to be told? All I have been able to find out is that Nellie was the daughter of Alexander Wright Wales (1859-1939) who from humble beginnings became a prosperous quarry owner and local politician. Later on, family money endowed  Alexander Wright Wales scholarships at Scotch College. Nellie’s brother George (1885-1962) was Lord Mayor of Melbourne 1934-37.

E.J.B.Forrester and 66 others

E.J.B.Forrester war grave, 1942

E.J.B.Forrester war grave, 1942

And, lastly, war graves: within the cemetery there are 67 war graves. The headstone shown here is similar to those used in many Commonwealth war cemeteries.

If you’re interested in joining a future cemetery tour check out the Box Hill Historical Society web site

On Funerals 3: Good news!

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On moving into the UK, SCI’s President, Bill Heiligbrodt had declared, “we are here now for the rest of time.” No so: in 2002, failing to increase UK prices as hoped and under financial pressure back home, the Americans threw in the towel and sold their UK interests back to local management^, now trading as Dignity plc. A similar thing happened here in Australia with SCI Australia becoming Invocare.

Extract from Which?

Extract from Which?

When Which? Magazine reported on funerals in March 2002 it noted “Overall we found the quality of service bore no relation to whether the funeral director was part of a chain or was an independent. There were good and bad advisers everywhere. However funeral directors owned by Dignity were clearly the most expensive and independents the cheapest.”

In most business sectors, the small man finds it impossible to compete with the larger multiples. No so with funerals. A good few staff who worked for firms that were taken over and who now found themselves unhappy working in a corporate environment saw that they could set up on their own and undercut their former employers. Unlike the corporates they had nothing to fear from being open about their pricing and increasingly customers were starting to use the internet to investigate funeral options.

In 1997 I wrote that Age UK should be identifying those independent funeral directors who provide a high quality service at a reasonable price but they’d rather make money selling Dignity’s funeral plans. Thankfully in 2008 the Good Funeral Guide started up and maintains a register of inspected and recommended firms.

In July 2018 Dignity reported “The number of consumers starting their purchasing journey online has increased from 2% in 2012 to 45% in 2018.”, noting that “the number of deaths in the UK fell by 5.4% between 1995 and 2017. At the same time research has found that there was an 83% increase in the number of Funeral Directors between 1989 and 2017.” This is a key reason why funerals are so expensive: if (as is typical) a branch undertakes two funerals a week or less, you end paying half a week’s rent, arranger’s salary and other fixed costs. Not that the staff earn a fortune: Funeral Partners are [Jan 2022] advertising for casual funeral service operatives – duties include collecting the deceased, mortuary work, polishing hearses, acting as pallbearer etc – the princely sum of £8.91 per hour.

Dignity’s 2020 annual report and accounts for 2020 is available on the Companies House website. In his report Executive Chairman Clive Whiley (ousted May 2021) makes the following extraordinary admission:

“The Transformation Plan, launched with great fanfare and at considerable expense in 2018, in my opinion introduced too narrow a focus upon one element of the Group, without considering the capacity to grow the business organically across its full bandwidth. In short, that was tantamount to admitting defeat as a Group that had elected for many years to utilise the majority of its capital investment buying its way out of deteriorating funeral market share (2001: 491 funeral locations and 11.8 per cent funeral market share: 2019: 820* funeral locations and 11.7 per cent funeral market share). At best that consolidated the heritage of strong family businesses and staff that perform well to this day, at worst business integration ceased at legal completion: leading to Dignity essentially becoming the industry retirement plan for independent funeral directors.”

*80,300 funerals/820 outlets = an average of 98 per branch per year

Meanwhile government had got interested. In 2020 the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) completed its in-depth market investigation into the funerals sector which was followed up by an order requiring that from 16 September 2021 all funeral directors must display a Standardised Price List at their premises and on their website. This list must include:

  • The headline price of a funeral.
  • The price of the individual items comprising the funeral.
  • The price of certain additional products and services.

In addition, from 17 June 2021, funeral directors may not make payments to incentivise hospitals, palliative care services, hospices, care homes or similar institutions to refer customers to a particular funeral director or solicit for business through coroner and police contracts.

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/cma-requires-clearer-prices-and-information-from-funeral-providers

It’s taken 30 years but at last the UK funeral customer is in a good place. Hopefully you won’t find yourself having to arrange a funeral for a long long time, but when you do make good use of the resources now available to you. Giving someone you loved a fitting send off is important and the right funeral director or celebrant can help you do this.

On funerals 2: The Americans

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I finished part 1 with the American SCI moving in on the UK funeral industry. Corporate acquisition of funeral businesses had three key aims:

1. Where possible acquire businesses that would complement ones already owned with the aim of stripping out duplicated back office facilities and maximising the use of vehicles. So when the Richmond-based T.H.Sanders was acquired, its hub at Preston Place, Richmond, was sold, its functions being transferred to F.W.Paine’s Kingston hub. To a degree efficiency is a good thing but … My father died on a Sunday and his funeral was held on the following Friday. Nowadays, a delay of two weeks or even more is not unusual. Of course, this might be what the family wants I do wonder though if it’s a question of a local branch trying to back-to-back several funerals whilst the vehicles are with them?

2. Acquired businesses would keep their existing names, with no corporate identification (now not the case). In Kingston the once deadly rivals Farebrother and Paine faced one another off across London Road for many years, likewise in my native Twickenham, Sanders & Higgs and Wake & Paine ‘compete’ with each other 25+ years after falling under the same ownership.

3. Aim to increase prices. The claim at the time was that people were being offered a wider choice. When I arranged my father’s funeral in 1988 I went to Sanders & Higgs^, then family-owned. In response to my enquiry about price the duty manager replied “we’ve got various options but rest assured you will receive the same quality of service regardless of what you choose and you’re not to feel under any pressure to spend any more than you want”. Not long after they were taken over by Great Southern, then SCI. A TV documentary sent an undercover reporter to another Sanders branch. The arranger denied any knowledge of cheapest option – one which he knew existed.

In the mid-1990s the corporate ownership of funeral homes came under increasing scrutiny from the media. The one thing that I took from these exposes was that decent caring people at the sharp end were being pushed into a place they didn’t want to be. Stories came out of funeral arrangers being placed on a sales league table with those failing to sell up being humiliated. They were told to offer sweeteners in the form of a laying out payment to old people’s homes: one arranger interviewed on TV said that she felt so bad the first time she made the offer, she never did it again. A home owner said that it was something they always did as a last service to their client and this was an insult.

This coverage culminated in SCI placing full-page ads in the mainstream press apologising for past misdeeds and promising to do better in the future, which by all accounts they have done. Perhaps on reflection SCI UK’s then bosses were being leant on by their American masters to maximise sales at any cost and were as much victims as villains?

While all this was going on Age Concern continued to sell SCI funeral plans, saying not a word about the misdeeds being reported elsewhere. In 1997 I sent them an open letter ““… Chosen Heritage [SCI’s then branding for its prepaid funerals] (and to a lesser extent, some other schemes) represents a threat to independent undertakers, many of whom provide a high quality service at a reasonable price. Within each local area Age Concern should be working to identify and support such firms …. Instead Age Concern/Age UK has worked hard to weaken such firms by ensuring that at a time of death they will not be engaged no matter how good they are”.

It wasn’t all bad news. Several London independents – John Nodes, Gillman and Albin – were the subject of fly-on-the-wall TV documentary series, each firm coming across in a very positive light. The first two are now owned by Funeral Partners. Gillman was one of the first firms to put funeral prices on their website; on being taken over the price list disappeared but thanks to the wayback machine we know that in 2002 they charged £1,085+coffin+disbursements for a traditional funeral = £1,810 in 2021 pounds. Their current charge for a similar funeral is £3,425, nearly double.

Next: Customer power at work

On funerals 1: The past

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Although I’ve lived in Melbourne for 13 years, I’ve only been to two Australian funerals. These three posts primarily cover English funerals and funeral directors.

It might seem weird, but the funeral industry has always been of interest to me. This interest dates back to my teenage days: one year our English teacher had to take extended leave and in his place we had a young supply teacher who made no secret of his anti-American views – in fairness, this was at the height of the Vietnam war. The class readers he provided included Jessica Mitford’s ‘The American Way of Death’ and Evelyn Waugh’s satire, ‘The Loved One’. 

Several decades ago I read a book (title forgotten) which observed, “no one loves undertakers, except, we hope, their wives and children. But when we need them, we’re glad they’re there.” Indeed, and a shout-out to all the good decent caring people in the funeral industry who provide the guidance and reassurance needed when called on. As part of the same church community for 49 years I attended dozens of funerals as older members passed away and saw what ‘good’ funerals can be like.

Funeral directing has changed significantly over time. Pre-Covid I went to a talk by a local FD who said he defined his job as being an event manager. 100+ years ago it was all about making coffins, and particularly in smaller communities the local carpenter or builder would also be the local undertaker. A local woman, very often the midwife, would do the laying out and the hearse and carriages, where required, would be hired from a carriage master (they still exist), with suitably attired labourers seconded for ‘lifting in’ and as pallbearers. Robert Tressell’s Edwardian novel ‘The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists‘ gives us this picture: “Crass took a lively interest in the undertaking department of Rushton & Co.’s business. He always had the job of polishing or varnishing the coffin and assisting to take it home and to ‘lift in’ the corpse, besides acting as one of the bearers at the funeral. This work was more highly paid for than painting.”

In larger communities undertaking became a standalone business. Many firms operated from one or two sites; others grew their businesses to a significant size.  In SW London and Surrey Frederick Paine took over the family business at 24 and by the time he died aged 75 his Kingston HQ serviced 14 branches. Jessica Mitford’s book is generally seen as an attack on the funeral industry, but her early 1960s visit to Mr Ashton whose family firm operated in South London left her with a very positive picture of UK funeral practice. When she visited him their typical funeral cost £50, about £1,100 at 2021 prices – today’s actual price is £1,995. Later the firm fell into corporate ownership.

From the second half of the 20C the funeral industry began to consolidate. The Great Southern Group took over numerous firms, Paine included. Then there was ‘yuppie undertaker’ Howard Hodgson. In 1988 the Spectator reported^: “In 1976 Howard Hodgson, aged 26, bought his father’s funeral business for £14,000. It was undertaking 400 funerals a year …  Since then Hodgson’s has acquired over 40 other funeral directors… [and] now undertakes 35,000 funerals a year … The company is now worth £70 million“. After further consolidation it became the PFG Hodgson Kenyon group – J.H.Kenyon had been the royal undertakers, an appointment they lost once no longer independent. Then in 1994 the American Service Corporation International swept in, taking over both groups. Their strategy was clear: they would continue the policy of acquired businesses trading under their old names, whilst looking to jack up prices substantially. You might go to ‘Josiah Smith and Sons’ because you’d used them ten years earlier, not being aware that everything behind the shopfront had changed. It was licence to print money. What could go wrong?

Part 2: The Americans

For a detailed account of UK funeral industry practice check out Brian Parsons’ excellent books.

The final journey – by rail

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hearse car

Restored hearse car

Today I went on our Railway History Society‘s June 2018 outing, taking in the Craigieburn and Upfield lines. After a good lunch we finished up at Fawkner Cemetery where a restored hearse car is on display.

From the early 1890s new cemeteries were needed in Melbourne. A Northern Suburbs Cemetery Conference, held in 1902, suggested a 284 acre site which included Fawkner Railway Station, and this was adopted. The first funeral, that of four year old Dorothy Knapp, was held on 10th December 1906.

Hearse car information

Hearse car information

From the outset the new cemetery was linked to the city by a dedicated rail service. One service per day ran from Flinders Street Station platform 10 east, the mortuary platform, and this ran as an ordinary passenger service with additional hearse cars attached. Each hearse car could take twenty coffins.

The regular funeral train service was discontinued in 1939 though occasional trains would be run until 1952. The hearse cars were sold for scrap and assumed to be lost,  before three were found on a farm in 1990. After restoration this one is now on display next to Fawkner station.

FAWKNER MEMORIAL PARK Conservation Management Plan